Chasing Chimaeras
by Katie Alden
Summary: "Gilderoy could barely contain his excitement. Today was the day, a day that would go down in history as he finally proved his naysayers wrong. Today was the day he would tame the infamous Chimaera, and be lauded as the bravest, most powerful wizard in the world." Gilderoy Lockhart had dreamed of fame and glory his whole life. Would it go to plan? Written for QLFC season 7 round 7


**Written for QLFC Season 7, Round 7. Chaser 2 - ****Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures: Write about an encounter with a wild animal, beast, creature, etc**

**Additional prompts: 1. (word) imitation; 6. (colour) lemon yellow; 8. (character) Gilderoy Lockhart**

**This is a slight AU, in that the timeline of the Chimaera defeat has been moved by multiple centuries. The method of defeat in this story has been based off the myth - Bellerophon defeated the Chimaera by shooting it from the back of a pegasus. Some changes have been made to fit the context of the Harry Potter universe, however I have aimed to remain faithful to the original myth.**

Gilderoy could barely contain his excitement. Today was the day, a day that would go down in history as he finally proved his naysayers wrong. Today was the day he would tame the infamous Chimaera, and be lauded as the bravest, most powerful wizard in the world.

For as long as he could remember, Gilderoy had been underestimated, laughed at even. No one seemed to see his full potential, and his goals were brushed away as dreams or whimsy. His mother was the only person who had ever taken him seriously, and he desperately wanted to prove the pair of them right.

Gilderoy vividly remembered his Fifth Year Careers Counselling session with Professor Flitwick. When he had announced his plans to create the Philosopher's Stone by the end of his Seventh Year, Captain the English Quidditch Team to victory the year after graduation and then settle down to become the youngest ever Minister for Magic, Professor Flitwick had merely chuckled at him. The nerve!

"Mr Lockhart," the diminutive Professor began after he had composed himself, " I do not doubt that you will go on to do great things. But this session is to help you set realistic goals for your future, not a flight of fancy. Additionally, in order to achieve great things, you will have to work hard, Mr Lockhart. You have been coasting this far, and it is an attitude unfitting to your House."

Coasting! Lockharts did not coast! He merely did not see the point in trying when his efforts were not going to get him the recognition he so clearly deserved.

Well, that was two years ago, and he was going to prove the tiny Professor wrong once and for all. It may not be the Philosopher's Stone or the English Quidditch team, but the taming of a Chimaera would bring him the fame and glory he had been denied for so long. He would finally be recognised as the brilliant wizard that he was.

* * *

As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, Gilderoy gathered his supplies. He had spent the last two weeks travelling to Greece and had finally arrived at the little village of Kentro, where there had been reports of a Chimaera terrorising the area for almost a year now. There was supposedly a cash reward for the witch or wizard who could defeat the beast; however, Gilderoy would be content with eternal fame and glory. Although he supposed some money wouldn't hurt. He'd finally be able to buy those lemon-yellow robes he'd wanted for months.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Gilderoy checked his bag one more time. There was his pipe, a broad brush, and a mouse, happily eating a piece of cheese.

Everything seemed to be in order, and Gilderoy was in high spirits as he left his lodgings and walked to the outskirts of town, where the last sighting had been.

* * *

It hadn't taken him long to reach the edge of the village, and it took even less time to find the Chimaera. A creature comprised of three other animals is hardly inconspicuous. Additionally, it was in a bad mood and was systematically burning all the trees and plants in the area. Gilderoy cast a quick bubble-head charm over himself to keep out the smoke; however, it wasn't as effective as he had remembered Professor Flitwick describing. Perhaps it was because the Chimaera was a magical creature. That must be it; the charm was too easy to get wrong.

Coughing and spluttering, Gilderoy hastened to set his plan into action. He knew that in order to overcome this hideous beast, he would need to strike at all three creatures at once. He didn't want to risk an attack from behind.

As a child, Gilderoy had heard a tale of a mouse tricking a lion, and the lion becoming frightened. Pulling his little, white mouse from his bag, Gilderoy hoped fervently that all lions were the same. Otherwise, he'd be forced to use magic, something he would rather avoid in this Muggle area.

Placing the mouse of the ground and pointing it towards the Chimaera's lion head, he pulled out his last two items - a brush and a pipe. Beginning to play the pipe with his right hand, he grasped the brush in his left and approached the beast.

The trick was to be able to play the pipe and manoeuvre the brush simultaneously, but he had no doubts as to his abilities. Gilderoy has taken up the pipe expressly for this purpose; he had learnt multiple tunes designed to charm snakes and protect the musician.

Despite his extensive research, Gilderoy had not been able to discover an effective method of goat taming, however, he had heard that goats liked to be groomed. As such, Gilderoy planned to soothe the Chimaera's goat body into submission, as he charmed the snake and frightened the lion.

At first, all went to plan. The lion shied away from the little mouse, and the snake appeared to be becoming sleepy under the influence of Gilderoy's flawless piping. However, as soon as he placed the brush on the goat's neck, everything seemed to go wrong.

With a shriek, the goat's head snapped around. At the same time, the lion roared, breathing fire as she turned, roasting the mouse on the way.

Gilderoy desperately tried to dodge the streams of fire. However, he didn't realise he was putting himself in the way of the powerful snake tail. It whipped around, catching him from behind and flinging him across the clearing. The Chimaera roared in triumph, stalking him as a predator stalks prey.

Just when he had given up all hope of ever surviving, Gilderoy heard a shout from above. Looking up, he saw a figure floating through the air, legs positioned as if it were riding something, though he was unable to see whatever it was. The figure called out what he was sure was meant to be some reassurance, and waved his wand sharply in the direction of the Chimaera.

The Chimaera was so focused on Gilderoy that it had not noticed the newcomer. Surprise and shock filled all four eyes as the flying figure stunned it from above, just as it had been about to pounce on Gilderoy.

With a shout of victory, the figure dropped back down to earth, quickly sliding off his invisible steed to race to Gilderoy's side.

* * *

Hours later, Gilderoy was fuming. He had never been so embarrassed in his life. At first, he had been angry at the man - Travis O'Bell - for ruining his chance of defeating the Chimaera and having his name written in history. However, as the hours passed, he had slowly realised the truth. If O'Bell hadn't turned up when he did, the Chimaera would have triumphed, and he would have been toast.

He had spent the hours since his realisation pacing his small hotel room, weighing up his options. The logical thing to do, of course, was to accept what happened and try for fame and glory another time in another way. However, the problem with that plan was that he would have to admit that he had failed. The local newspaper already had the story, and he was sure his name and face would be plastered across Europe by the morning. It was his dream, but this wasn't the way he had wanted it to happen.

As he paced, he suddenly remembered an incident from his childhood, when his younger brother had been following his every move. Gilderoy had become enraged with Bayard, and had complained to his mother, who he knew would always take his side. However, she had surprised him by asking him to allow Bayard to continue to follow him. "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, Gilderoy. One day, when you have all the fame you deserve, people will want to imitate you, to be just like you. View this as practice; you will need to be gracious with your fans when the time comes."

Imitation.

It was perfect. Why should he have to admit defeat? A few well-placed memory charms and it would be he who had saved O'Bell from the rogue Chimaera. The plan was genius. No one would ever suspect, as anyone who would have reason to would have their memories altered before they had the chance to spread the story.

The more he thought about it, the better the plan seemed. Perhaps he could use this for other feats. After all, he had never been one for hard work. It would be a lot simpler to interview great wizards, obliviate them and take the credit. He would have all the fame and glory, with none of the blood, sweat, and grime. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before.

Scooping up his wand from the side table, Gilderoy hurried out of the hotel. He had people to obliviate, and interviews to give.

* * *

_I had heard tales of a rogue Chimaera that had been terrorising the village of Kentro in Greece. Chimaeras are dangerous beasts, primarily due to their two heads that breath fire at their erstwhile prey. I knew that in order to defeat it, I needed to be out of reach of the deadly fire, and thus had arranged for the use of a thestral for my dangerous mission. _

_I arrived on the scene just in time, as a local wizard had gotten himself in trouble attempting to defeat the Chimaera on the ground. O'Bell was pinned against a tree and inches from death when I flew in from behind the Chimaera, stunning it before it could realise I was there._

_Having defeated the Chimaera, I quickly conjured break-proof ropes to contain the beast and rushed to provide O'Bell with much-needed first aid to his burns and wounds. Without my intervention, he would have surely perished._

Gilderoy grinned at himself in the mirror as he straightened his lemon yellow robes. His first book, Chasing Chimaeras, was a global success, and his cover photo had awarded him Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. Today he had returned to Kentro to accept a Medal of Bravery for saving the village.

Tomorrow, he would be off to Romania to interview a wizard about his victory over a vampire. It would make the perfect follow-up book to Chasing Chimaeras, and he had long forgotten any guilt that he had initially felt at altering people's memories. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.


End file.
